West Virginia argus. [volume] (Kingwood, W. Va.) 1877-1946, 1887-11-03
THE WONDERFUL ISLAND.


Land and Sea, which | picked up tn
other day, saw brief reference 60 Tia,
strange adventures of Captain Wheaton.
OF the ship Starlight. Among all IN,
forecasile yarns / ever heard, that story
takes the medal, aud when am through
relating II the reader will be as much
mystified as have always been regarding
IL. Indeed, | never vet met sailor who
did not firmly believe in the truth of
captain Wheatons every statement /
tell the story because was an actor i'm
the first and last chapters.
1t was in October, 1859, that Skinned
as second mate on the Starlight. which
was then lying in the D .rt Of Honolulu
She was Al old whaler and had been sold
at auction aud chea3ly refitted for n
voyage 10 Lima and return, I'm the in
terests of some California shippers We
left ort in ballast only, and were
two men short OF our complement Cant
wheaton was BIrne gat man, and the
crew all English speakiug people. and
for the first fortnight no shin ever had
better weather The Captain. as /
understood him, was an earnest conSci-
ent:ous man, being above the average in
point OF inte ligenCe, and of strictly
temperate habits The first mate BROUGHT
a demJohn of Whiskey aboard the dnv
before sailing bat the CAPTAIN made him
snip IT ashore at once. and he cautioned
the forecastle men that he would can
the man IN irons who was found the
worse for liquor. The men used TO slvIv
refer TO him as "ths Sunday-schooI
lperintcndent, and / believe he was
good enough to have filled the bill
A tho md ~ e ~
weather was broken by a rousinp gale
Whlch stuck us du.ing my night watch,
ana all hands had To be calle1 /. We
na a hard time Of it during the
hrst hour, and were finally com
pelied to he to, and it was
while we were bringing the ship TO
the WIND that the Captain was washed
overheard by heavy sea which boarded
us. with him went one Of the sailors.
the hencoops, several spare spars and
Dooms, ana lot OF deck laiilc, and by
the time the ship had shaken herself clear
Oh the loam 1T was too late to renderany
assistance. Indeed il was n serious
question just then whether any of us
would live another half hour The storm
ana not break for nearly twenty four
hodrS, and the old ship was so strained
anu knocked alOut that her life was
ended. The gale had scarcely abated
when she began TO leak faster than the
pumps could throw the water out. and
ON the seventceath day Of the VOYAGE we
had TO abandon her. When we had been
a1oat for four days in the open boats we
were picked up by the American bark
YANKEE Boy, bound from Boston to san
francisco. We were then to the north
OF the equator, and fully 100 miles from
the Galapagos Islands Thee islands lie
a good distance 10 the left of the true
course from Honolulu TO Lima. and at
that date every one of them was well
known, and all were inhabited bvnatives
who could speak more or les English
Now, as We got the gale dead from The
North, and as the send Of the sea was
Southwark for several days. CAPTAIN
Wheaton could not possibly have been
fi0ated-toward the Galapagos IIo must
have been driven down toward the
equator, or possibly toward the Mar
quesas group, although TO reach any Of
those islands he would have had TO drive
for hundreds of mites and for days and
weeks. How was a man swept over
board in gale to sustain himself above
a few hours, even il not drowned at
oncel Ask yourself these questions. and
you Will answer them as all others have
done, and you VIII be as greatly mysfi-
fed over the Captains story.
On the fourth day Of September. 1850.
as the English whaling ship Lady Bas.
combc was nearing the equator, being
about midway between the Marouesas
group and the Galapagos, and the time
being II O'Clock 40 night, she was hailed
from out Of the darkness. and Eve min
utes later had Captain Wheaton aboard
Hc had then been ahont for three days
and q half OF small but well CON
structcd raft, which was provided with
n sail, and had carried him safely and
buoyantly an G timatcd distance Of 12O
miles. The Captain was in good health
and spirits, but could answer no ouc
tlons until he had seen the Captain of
the BascOmbc Inc sal lors knew that he
must have been wrecked but that hc
should be a.Onc and in such sccmin,y Good
health in that dreary spot was great
mystery TO tnem Captain Moore of the
Rascombc had heard of thc loss of the
Starlight, and when Captain Wheaton
introduced him,clf lie created bio sonsa-
ton. lie was at first taken for an in
poster, but hc had letters and documents
ln ms pocket 10 prove his IDENTITY at once
That being settled, Dee told his story. !
have heard him tell is four or five times
over, and can relate it almost word for
word.
When Captain Wheaton was swcpt
overheard he gave himself up for lost.
He got but one look a' the ship. and
realizing that she was driving away from
him and he was beyond rescue. he ceased
swimming and hoped 90 drown 40 once.
just then a hoacoop f0ttcd witlinIeach.
and in q second he changed bis mind
and fastened TO the float He was clear
ON the point of floating all that day and
far into the night Then he lost con
scIOuuess, but did not lot go of his font.
He remembered nothing of the next dav
until about an hour before sundown
when he opened his eyes and came TO
his senses TO find himself lying ON the
sands, his float near by, and the storm
cleared away Ilc was still ana sore and
bcwildcrci, md me crawlcd further up
the shore and went TO s.. .ccp again. and it
was sunrise before Dee aoaiu opened his
eyes An hour later Lc know that Doe
was on am island about three miles long
by ono mile wide I, was well w0odc
containing several springs OF fresh water.